The Diamondbacks weren’t a bad offensive club in 2019, but they were a middle-of-the-pack unit in the National League in terms of total runs (sixth overall with 813), home runs (ninth, 220) and wRC+ (seventh, 94). Like most contending clubs with a good bit of depth, those numbers should tick up if the league implements a universal DH in 2020, as seems increasingly likely.
For the Diamondbacks, the most established beneficiary on the roster is lefty swinging Jake Lamb. Shoulder injuries have torched the 29-year-old’s past two seasons, and the former everyday third baseman has since lost that spot to Eduardo Escobar as a result. With a DH added to the mix, Lamb could rotate between designated hitter and both infield corners, providing occasional breathers for Escobar and 2019 breakout performer Christian Walker — at least against right-handed pitching. Lamb has struggled mightily in his career against southpaws, though, so he’d likely need to be platooned.
Enter Kevin Cron.
The righty swinging younger brother of slugger C.J. Cron has never been considered among the D-backs’ top prospects, in part because of a lack of defensive value and the type of plodding speed you’d expect from a 6’5″, 250-pound first baseman. But Cron has consistently hammered minor league pitching, and never more so than in 2019, when he belted a minor-league-leading 39 home runs in just 84 games. (Yes — the Triple-A ball was also juiced.)
Cron logged a ridiculous .331/.449/.777 slash with a career-high 16.2 percent walk rate and a 20.4 percent strikeout rate with Triple-A Reno. He only received 78 plate appearances in the Majors, due in no small part to the breakout of Walker, who is also a stellar defender at first base. That said, Cron tacked on another six round-trippers in the big leagues, bringing his season total to 45 in just 460 plate appearances.
Lamb might get the first look at DH — he’s playing on a $5.525MM contract after all — but Cron should be in line for at least a platoon gig early in the season. Further injuries to Lamb or some struggles at the plate could open the door for a wider look. It’s not a given that Cron’s minor league dominance would carry over to the big leagues — he’s not even ranked in their top 30 prospects at Baseball America and sits just 26th at MLB.com — but when you homer in nearly 10 percent of your 400-plus plate appearances, it’s probably time for a legitimate chance.
Beyond Cron and Lamb, the D-backs have prospect Seth Beer working his way toward the Majors. He came over from Houston in the Zack Greinke swap and is a bat-first corner option himself, although he’s yet to appear in Triple-A. Versatile Swiss army knives like Josh Rojas and Andy Young can be plugged in all over the diamond, giving the Snakes increased opportunities to spell Ketel Marte, David Peralta, Kole Calhoun, etc. with a day at designated hitter as well.
The D-backs have the depth to take a mix-and-match approach to the DH spot, plus one veteran option looking for a bounceback … but the most interesting thread to follow will be whether 2019’s minor league home run king can capitalize on an opportunity he didn’t expect to have when Spring Training originally commenced.
solid post
I like the expansion draft series.
This could also be a cool series, speculating who would be each NL teams DH
Yep — that’s where we’re going with it. I ran through the Dodgers’ seemingly limitless mix-and-match options this morning, and we’ll be looking at all the possible DH situations throughout the NL over the next several days.
A lot of clubs will have that mix-and-match approach, but Cron is a pretty interesting case for a more regular DH.
Yes definitely agree that DBacks have a more set in stone DH type. While dodgers is more of, who needs a day off or who do we want to get in the lineup based on a platoon situation.
I think it’s great for rebuilding teams to get their young guys some more regular at bats too.
could you do a poll for it though
We’ll probably do a “which team benefits most” poll once we run through all 15.
Which team benefits least?
None. They all benefit from getting guys more ABs instead of wasting the experience with a pitcher batting.
Rephrase the question, which team will struggle most with this?
Pirates. Easy. They dont even have 8 good bats
Steve,
It would be nice if this could lead to AZ getting some value out of Yasmany Tomas also, That being with the D’backs or finally getting some sort of value back in a trade
Was my understanding there was some sort of insurance policy on Thomas that made him playing in their jersey very very unlikely for another inn- Trade always possible but what value is left…and whoes picking up the tab?
The DH rule could really benefit a lot of teams. But I think phillies could benefit a lot. Bohm if he forces his way into lineup. Also could put Hoskins in DH role as well.
Lamb is due to hit free agency next year. If he isn’t brought back, there will be more room for Cron at that point.
Good problem for Arizona to have.
Another option, though highly controversial, is Yasmany Tomas. Tomas hit .272 with 35 HR in 2015, which is way above average for a DH. But, he is such a complete defensive liability, that even with that 2015 production he was a negative WAR player. So as an NL player, he is regarded by virtually everyone from management to fans as a “sunk cost” with his $17M salary in 2020. However, some contend that if he were in the AL as a DH, he would have some value…Not $17M worth of value, but a few million. Yasmany was second to Cron in HR last year at AAA Reno and batted almost .300, so he is a “controversial” option for the Dbacks. The hard feelings about his huge contract (total of $68.5M) “sunk cost” and extreme defensive deficiencies, are a difficult obstacle, but he is a realistic option on a team that now has the DH, especially as a RH platoon partner with Jake Lamb who is pretty brutal against left handed pitchers.
hard pass
Defense was a part of why Tomas ended up with negative WAR in his lone full season, the other part was almost zero walks and terrible base running so if Crone is walking even half as much in the majors as he did in the minors Tomas would make zero sense.
Colton Welker would be just as great for the Rockies
I didn’t mean that Yasmany would be “great” as a DH, only that he could be average to slightly above average as a DH. So, I would amend your comment to say Welker could be just as good as Tomas.
Stop with the surveys.
Don’t click the post
Every article opens a survey monkey about a teams expansion draft. This Cron / DH article popped up the Rays version. Others popped up the Orioles when that’s not what the article was about. Also, the results screen is limited on an iPhone. I liked the older surveys better, the monkey isn’t working.
Yeah, that was an issue we’re looking into. Not sure how that happened, but it’s obviously not something we want for our app users. Apologies for that headache. I believe it’s fixed now.
If you have continued issues, please do fill out our contact form and let us know: http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/contact
Hope he gets a chance
Kevin cron will hit 265 , 40 HRs . write that down.
in 82 games?
Maybe both Cron brothers together.
Never trust PCL numbers.
Especially Reno, Colorado Springs, Salt Lake and Albuquerque.
Don’t remember all the real hitter parks at high elevation
It is a hitters league.
A 5 ERA at the PCL is pretty good for a young pitcher just as long as he has swing and miss stuff
If Seth Beer’s number isn’t 30, it should. That jersey would be top seller
I’d buy one!
My Dbacks are built for the versatility of late game switches, but a DH won’t hurt them either because it allows them to get more power into the lineup. At least they’ve got two better platoon options (Lamb and Cron) than their rivals. That’s at least 30, maybe 40 homers and 100 RBI out of the DH, not to mention both of them are decent OBP!